In the spirit of the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Medical Lake School District STEM program held a lab, Feb. 22, centered on athletic events featured in the winter games.
Elementary STEM coach Marci Dayton explained to students that different scientific principles can factor into each contest.
In hockey, children realized how applying too much or too little force in their shots can cause them to miss the goal. In the bobsled event, they learned how friction and acceleration can help their sleds get down the track at a faster rate.
In curling, students learned to develop strategies to get their stones to the center to score points. At the same time they had to try and prevent their opponents from taking their stone’s spot in the center.
Students also used mathematics for different events to calculate averages for timed events.
For the engineering portion of the lab, students constructed a piece of safety gear out of bubble wrap, tape and paper to protect an egg.
In addition to the experiments, students watched videos and learned about the actual sporting events they were imitating in the lab.
Dayton said she was pleased with the turnout of students and parents and happy to see participants continue with some of the activities — specifically curling— after the learning portion was over.
“They kept going back and developing different strategies,” Dayton said. “I thought it went well.”
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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